


Home away from home

by percyinpanties



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Alternate Universe - No Gods (Percy Jackson), M/M, Polyamory Negotiations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-24
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-03-23 09:45:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13784874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/percyinpanties/pseuds/percyinpanties
Summary: Despite what Jason said, Will doesn't mean to fall in love. When Percy stumbles into Will's live, however, Will realises there is only one way this will end, and he is not ready to get his heart broken.





	Home away from home

**Author's Note:**

> this is a mess. im just warning you beforehand.

Will had never seen a real castle before. Hiking up the hill, spying the pale towers and high walls through the trees, Will finds it hard to breathe as awe fills him. As far as castles went it wasn’t that big, or that old, but before coming to Europe Will had considered a hundred years to be an unimaginably long time, so this definitely didn’t fail to impress him.

He adjusts the straps of his backpack to stop them from digging into his shoulders and continues on his path. It’s still early, but Will doesn’t want to waste any time that he could spend exploring this beautiful place instead. The sun is just starting to filter through the clouds, bathing the view in a fairy tale light.

The road is empty, maybe because of the early hour or Will choosing to walk the path most people just take by car. It’s peaceful and Will could lose himself in it – almost does, when suddenly the noise of a bike approaching rips him out of his thoughts.

He half turns where he stands, unable to help his curiosity. The bike is coming racing up the hill, with a lot more ease than Will’s slow hike, but instead of zinging by, the stranger stops his bike right next to where Will has stopped in his step.

The motor shuts off, the quiet returning as Will watches silently while the stranger removes their helmet – revealing a mop of mussed black hair and a pair of bright green eyes. He’s _gorgeous_ , Will catches himself thinking and only just stops himself from staring with his mouth half open.

“You going up to the castle?” The guy asks him, English with a distinctive New York accent even though they are standing on a road in France.

Will blinks slowly, just processing for a second, but then he nods slowly. The stranger grins at that, and Will ignores the way that sight makes him feel. It’s bad news, in more ways than one.

“Me too. You want a ride?” The offer is casual, nonchalant, and the smile on the stranger’s face is genuine enough that Will wants to believe he’d have offered this to anyone found hiking up the same trail. “The name’s Percy, by the way.”

~*~

Somewhere along the way, Will actually picks up some French. It’s not a lot, and he keeps getting it mixed up with the Spanish he’d learned in high school, but it comes in helpful more often than not. The people seem to appreciate Will trying more than anything – and if whispering some words to Jason on the phone makes the other all flustered, that’s just a bonus.

Will is in the empty hostel kitchen – up early to be able to chat to Jason before he goes to bed – taking a snap of himself with bed hair and sleepy eyes, dressed in only one of Jason’s jersey’s and a pair of boxers. He knows exactly how much Jason loves seeing Will wear his clothes, especially when they’re apart, and there’s little else he can do to feel connected when they’re on different sides of the world.

It’s only when Will lowers the phone to type out a message that he sees Percy in the background of the photo, walking by and sticking his tongue out – even more sparsely dressed than Will. It shouldn’t send a rush through Will’s body, but he can’t help it either way. For a second, Will considers retaking the photo, then shakes his head and sends it as it is.

There is nothing to hide there, and Will doesn’t like the implication that comes with keeping Percy and Jason oblivious to each other’s existence.

It’s not even a minute before he gets a snap return, although the photo is dark, Jason already curled up in their bed at home with glasses perched on the bridge of his nose.

“Is that the guy you’re pretending not to moon over?” reads the caption and Will blushes darkly before quickly swiping the photo away and with it all evidence of Jason catching on to Will’s unsubtle crush.

~*~

After France, they cross through Belgium into the Netherlands. Will isn’t sure when or how they’d decided to travel together from there on out, but Will doesn’t find it in himself to protest or complain. He enjoys Percy’s company too much to walk away from it when there’s no need to – and things have become a lot easier than they were when he was still all by himself.

It’s still a while before he’s flying back home – back to Jason – but Will can squash any pesky feelings and attachments down until then. It’s not like Percy has shown any interest anyway and Will tells himself that it’s not just because he knows Will is already taken.

When they decided to stay in Amsterdam for remainder of the month, in a tiny rented apartment in De Pijp that a friend of Percy’s got them into, Will hadn’t realised just how much harder ignoring his affection would become.

It was one thing to be out and exploring with Percy, to see the cities and cites and landscapes they travelled through, and to crash into a shitty hostel bed at the end of the day amongst six or more other travellers. It was something entirely different to be living together in a place that was essentially their own for the time being, with no one to disrupt and distract from whatever was or wasn’t going on between the two. The way things are going, Will isn’t sure he’ll make it to the end of the month.

“Hey…”

Will looks up from the window he’d been standing by, brooding. Percy is close, one hand half reached out to Will’s arm but hesitating to touch without permission.

“Are you alright?” He asks, and now Percy’s concern shows clear on his face.

Will opens, then closes his mouth. He isn’t sure how to even begin answering this if he doesn’t want to lie, and most of the time, Percy can tell if he isn’t honest to begin with.

“Just thinking.” Will says, trying to avoid the question. It’s not quite like he can tell Percy that it’s killing him how much he wants to kiss his dumb face, or that despite Jason’s permission (encouragement even) Will can’t bring himself to because there is no way that wouldn’t end in heart break.

Will wouldn’t be flying home until Christmas, and he knows that Percy has no plans to return any earlier than that. Even before Will had left North America, long before Percy stumbled into Will’s life, Jason and he had decided to open up their relationship for whatever _more_ they might find along the way. The problem now isn’t that Will cannot or should not give whatever he was feeling for Percy a try – the problem is that he isn’t sure that after once he’d had a taste of it, he’d ever be able to let it go again.

Percy hands comes to rest on Will’s arm after all, and after a second, pulls him close against his side. All Will can do is clench his fists at his side so he doesn’t just melt into the embrace.

“Homesick?” Percy asks, and while that isn’t far off, it’s the entirely wrong conclusion.

“I guess so.” Will replies even so. He does miss Jason, and their friends, but that’s not what gnawing at him at the moment.

“You’ve always got me here.” Percy says gently and when Will looks up at him, there is a small, almost shy smile on Percy’s face. “For what it’s worth.”

Will doesn’t answer, just studies Percy’s face for another moment before finally giving in and allowing himself to lean into the hug.

“It’s worth more than you think.” He whispers, voice small. Will isn’t sure he even wants Percy to hear, and if Percy has, he doesn’t say anything in response.

~*~

“New York isn’t that far.” Jason tries. His voice sounds distorted over the phone, but Will has gotten used to that by now.

He’s sitting on the balcony, looking down at the slowly emptying street of Amsterdam. It’s a warm evening, one of the last few before fall will properly set in. Percy is out – Will isn’t entirely sure where, but he’s grateful for the privacy of this conversation.

“It’s on the other side of the country, Jason.” He replies and even to his own ears, Will sounds like a kicked puppy. “And even so, who says he’d even want to see me again once this is all over?”

This isn’t the first time the thought has crossed Will’s mind, and it’s the one that’s holding him back the most. Even if Percy would want him now, for the convenience or thrill of it, there is no guarantee he’ll have any interest in Will once they are both going back to their lives. Will can’t get into this just for his heart to be broken.

“Why wouldn’t he?” Jason says, always the voice of reason. “Baby, anyone would be lucky to have caught your attention like that. And you’ve stuck together this far, why should that change?”

Will huffs. Jason doesn’t get it, not quite, and Will isn’t sure he could explain it properly even if he tried.

“It’s convenient now, there is no one else.” Will says. He doesn’t hear the apartment door unlock, despite the exit to the balcony wide open behind him.

“We’re friends because it makes sense for now. The closest we’ve got to home over here and it’s easier than traveling alone. If you really think that’s going to last further than that, you’re even more naïve than I thought.” He doesn’t mean the words to come out as spiteful as they do, but he is scared of getting hurt, and he’s scared of admitting how much it already makes him ache to know he is right.

Jason sighs exasperated. Sometimes Will wonders where he takes the patience from to put up with Will’s whining.

“That’s not true.” He says simply. “Give him more credit than that, give your friendship more credit than that.”

Will scoffs. He’s bitter now, and there’s no stopping the words coming out of his mouth no matter how much he loathes them: “This will be over the second I step onto the plane to come back to you. It means nothing, not in the big picture.”

“Will, I know you don’t mean that –” Jason starts, but Will doesn’t hear him – only the soft creak of the balcony door, then the steps as they hurry away. Will only catches a glimpse of Percy’s hurt expression, but it’s enough to shatter his own heart into a thousand pieces.

“Percy, wait!” He calls, already scrambling to his feet, cursing himself and all this, hanging up on Jason without another – he can explain later, this is more important. Out of context, his words will have sounded even worse than Will meant them to be.

The front door slams shut before Will even gets inside, and he rushes to find his shoes and grab a jacket (it’s one of Percy’s, but Will doesn’t notice now) to follow. He calls out again into the hallway, hearing Percy’s feet running down the stairs, and they don’t stop at the sound of Will’s voice.

He almost falls over himself trying to get down the stairs as far as possible, and when he finally stumbles out onto the street, Percy is already halfway down the block.

“Please!” Will shouts, and he doesn’t care that he’s making a scene, making the few people still around stop and stare at the source of the noise. “Percy, come on!”

Will catches up with Percy at the end of the road, facing one of the canals running through the city. He must have slowed down, or else Will never would have been able to outrun him, and that’s all Will needs for now.

“I’m sorry, Percy, I’m so sorry.” Will pants as soon as he is close enough, out of breath from the race down the street. “It’s not like it sounded, I promise.”

Percy doesn’t reply right away, but he turns around to face Will, arms hugged around his middle and eyes brimming with not yet shed tears. It’s like a stab to Will’s chest, knowing he is the reason for them. When he opens his mouth to speak, to explain, Percy shakes his head slowly.

“Nothing.” Is all Percy says at first, and the word chills Will to the core. “That’s all, hm? Just…nothing.”

Will wants to cry. He should have seen this coming, but of course he didn’t. Shaking his head slowly first, then feverishly, Will tries to reach out to Percy only to have him step out of reach.

“No, no you got it all wrong.” He pleads and his own voice sounds more pained than he has any right being now. It’s not Percy who has hurt him like Will had feared all along – he is the bad guy now. “It isn’t nothing it’s – ”

Percy doesn’t let Will finish. He barks a laugh, bitter and hurt and Will feels a tear spill down his cheek after all.

“Don’t” Percy says and his voice is as cold as ice. “I don’t want you to tell me any lies, I’ve heard enough. I’m convenient and nothing more – should have known better than to make myself believe this means something to you.”

He tries to turn away, leave Will with nothing but this dismissal but Will can’t bring himself to let Percy go, not like this. He reaches out, ignoring the way it hurts when Percy flinches away from his touch – but it makes the other stop long enough for Will to speak again.

“This, no, _you_ \- you mean so much to me.” He tries, but his voice breaks. This was not how Will had seen his confession going down, not that he had believed it to happen at all. “So much that is scares the shit out of me. I want this to be nothing because I can’t stand the alternative, that there’s something there that I can have for a month only to lose it when you go back to your life and forget all about the stupid boy you picked up on the side of some road.”

Will’s crying now, in the middle of the street, feeling like the single most horrible person on earth.

“Jason kept saying that I’m being stupid, but I couldn’t risk it and ruin all the good memories just because I couldn’t be content with what you gave already. I wanted it to be nothing because if it was something, then it was something I would lose.”

Will finally stops and Percy – Percy just stares at him. There is a wet track down his cheek where a tear has gotten away, but the rest of his face is a stony mask. Will is sure he has ruined it for good now, that maybe having Percy believe Will didn’t care about their friendship would have been better than letting him know how much deeper his feelings truly run.

Percy doesn’t say a single word, but he steps closer, into Will’s reach, then into his space. It seems surreal, like Will is watching it happen from the outside rather than living in this moment. Hands cup his cheek, green eyes lock onto his own. Will thinks his heart has stopped, but he doesn’t care, not now.

“And people tell me I’m oblivious.” Percy says quietly and Will doesn’t catch onto what he’s trying to say until there is a pair of lips against his own.

**Author's Note:**

> i adore the idea behind this, and i want to write a chaptered fic of it so badly it hurts. (this is your cue to encourage me fellas. gimme an excuse. please.)
> 
> lemme know what you thought down below ♥


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